The introverted trainer | The Myers-Briggs Company

Previously posted on CPP.com by Michael Segovia

It’s absolutely true: Any type can do anything. In fact, Isabel Briggs Myers believed it was an advantage for an organization to hire employees with personality types different from those types that most often self-select into specific job roles. We need to remember that personality type is never intended to limit anyone.

You might be wondering how someone like me with a preference for Introversion can train groups of people as a full-time job. I’m standing right up in front of people two to three weeks, 10 to 20 days each month. While I will admit to being exhausted at the end of each day, the charge I get from making a difference in people’s lives never fails to renew my energy. You see, I also have preferences for Intuition (taking in information from a big picture perspective) and Feeling (making decisions based on how they affect people). When combined, these preferences explain my interest in encouraging peoples’ development.

I make it a point to fuel my preference for Introversion with time alone in the gym each evening, followed by a quiet meal alone or with one or two other people I already know and am therefore comfortable with. I think that my preferences at times actually give me an advantage as a trainer. Recently I was working one-on-one with a participant explaining how to “crack the code” of type dynamics. I asked him to “show me how you understand it.” At first he just gave me a puzzled look. I imagined he was thinking, “If I understood it, I wouldn’t be asking you.” I gave him a large piece of flipchart paper and markers and told him to just give it a try, speaking only to correct or encourage his process. After a few tries, he got it! I said very little, while he talked his way through it (he has a preference for Extraversion).

I make it a point to provide time for participants to ask questions in the larger group as well as to ask questions with me one-on-one almost anytime during our four days together.

From the author

As the lead trainer for CPP’s MBTI® Certification Programs, I thought it might be interesting for people to learn more about my adventures across the country and around the world with the MBTI tool. I have had the opportunity to experience the use of the MBTI tool in more countries than I can count.

I’ve participated in, reviewed, and trained at more MBTI Certification Programs than most, thanks to the opportunities given to me by CPP. I have worked with all the past and present MBTI® Certification Programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, South Africa, Gulf Cooperation Council (Middle East), China, India, and more.

Michael R. Segovia, M.A.
CPP Lead MBTI® Certification Trainer

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